NEWS: 11 Firefighters Found Dead In Spain

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A forest fire apparently sparked by a weekend barbecue has killed at least 11 firefighters and continued to burn out of control on Monday in a hilly area east of Madrid, forcing the evacuation of 400 villagers, a regional government spokeswoman told CNN.

The 11 forest agents, under contract to battle forest fires, were led by Felix Mansilla, a Guadalajara provincial fire fighting coordinator. He was among the dead.

They were trapped by the fast-moving fire along with their vehicles, two water tanker trucks and a few all-terrain vehicles, the spokeswoman, Nuria Lozano, said.

The bodies of the 11 firefighters were located near the remote village of Santa Maria del Espino, less than 10 km (6 miles) from the barbecue site, Lozano said. By early Monday, the bodies had not yet been recovered.

By Monday morning, one of the fire's three fronts had been controlled but two remained out of control. A total of 152 firefighters were battling the blaze, backed by eight planes and two helicopters specialized in fighting fires


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BBC: Spain blaze victims' bodies found

Police have recovered the bodies of 11 volunteer firefighters who died as they tried to fight a forest fire in Spain's Guadalajara province.

Officials said they died after becoming encircled by the fire, following a sudden change in wind direction.

France, which is also suffering a serious drought, has sent two firefighting aircraft to assist with the Spanish efforts. Three French firefighters were killed while tackling a blaze in the eastern region of Burgundy on Sunday.


Some of the victims' bodies were found near their burned out trucks

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